DELAWARE LOTTERY WINS PRESTIGIOUS QUALITY AWARD

DOVER, DE --Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner and Accolade Alliance, LLC, a Delaware non-profit group that encourages organizational achievement, recently honored the Delaware Lottery with the prestigious 2002 Delaware Quality Merit Award.

In a ceremony held January 16 at the Governor's Office in Wilmington, Del., the Lottery and three other organizations were recognized for implementation of quality standards resulting in improved customer satisfaction and increased efficiency.

"We're proud to receive this award, which recognizes the hard work and dedication of our employees to delivering the highest levels of quality, service and performance," said Delaware Lottery Director Wayne Lemons. "More important, however, is the self-assessment required to achieve this honor-going through the rigorous process resulted in significant organizational improvements that will further benefit our customers."

Modeled on the Malcolm Baldridge award, the Delaware Quality Award program is administered by Accolade Alliance, a public-private partnership formed to improve the performance of Delaware organizations. Award applicants can achieve three levels of performance excellence: the W.L. Gore Award, the Merit Award, and the Commitment Award. The Award of Merit acknowledges organizations that demonstrate significant progress in their approach and deployment of quality systems. The award assessment focuses on factors important to the organization's strategy and definition of success.

Since the start of operations in 1975, the Delaware Lottery has contributed more than 1.4 billion to the state's General Fund to help finance needed state services that benefit everyone in Delaware. The Lottery offers a variety of games: POWERBALL, LOTTO, PLAY 3, PLAY 4, and assorted Instant Games. More information is available at delottery.com.